Congrats to ADDTF for one solid year of reading comics naked.

Also, welcome back ADD and In Sequence.

Did I miss anyone?

 
I was originally going to write a long, rambling entry about giant robots, but I'm really pressed for time these days. However, a little something has come up that requires your immediate attention...

Nelson Evergreen and Flyboy have turned in...THE FIRST SHIFTER STORY!

Their preview raised my expectations quite a bit. They shattered those expectations to itty bitty pieces. I couldn't have asked for a better premiere tale of our lovable little Jenny. The both of them make me extremely jealous. Flyboy, with dialogue that just bounces off the page, and Nelson with his deep blacks and throwaway details like the Shifter's broken goggle on the last page.

It's brilliant. BRILLIANT! If you follow only one link this year...



posted by Steven at 10:54 PM

 
"Oh no, there goes Tokyo. Go Go Godzilla!"
-Blue Oyster Cult.

Yesterday, my brother and I went half and half on Destroy All Monsters! It's a fighting game with the Toho monsters as the characters. It's freaking amazing. All the sounds are pure Godzilla, and you can blast, throw and pummel your oppponent and the city you're fighting in.

I wouldn't consider myself to be much of a G-Fan. Over at Monster Zero you'll find people debating the differences in the spots on Mothra's wings. And on the other side of things, there are those people who like a little mockery with their Kaiju flicks. I feel mighty uncomfortable in either camp. The appeal for me, like in most any crazy, mid-century sci-fi movie, is to suspend my disbelief for even just a second and let a strange awe for the proceedings wash over me. What if giant beasts roamed the Earth?

So, I've had Godzilla on the brain. I picked up a book I have on the Godzilla films, Japan's Favorite Mon-Star by Steve Ryfle, and leafed through it. There were a few passages concerning Raymond Burr (star of the Americanized parts of both Godzilla, King of Monsters and Godzilla 1985) that I particularly like, starting with a quote from Burr himself.

When they asked me to do [Godzilla 1985], I said, 'Certainly,' and everybody thought I was out of my mind. But it wasn't the large sum of money. It was the fact that, first of all, I kind of liked Godzilla, and where do you get the opportunity to play yourself 30 years later?"

And...

As soon as Burr came aboard, his representatives were quick to tell New World that for the actor, Godzilla was no laughing matter. Burr took "very seriously" the idea that Godzilla was an anti-nuclear allegory; thus, the filmmakers revamped the script to make sure Burr's lines were played straight.

I was going to tie this back into comics by mentioning my recent purchase of the two issues of the Marvel version of Godzilla that showcased Devil Dinosaur, but I'll spare you. Instead, let me add that it was once my intention to draw a comic which showed the human side to attacks by giant monsters. I even finished an eight page rough introduction. Yeah, it might sound silly, but many people find looking at the realistic side of superheroes to be a waste of time, too, and that's been done to death.

It's a funny coincidence that I while I was considering reviving my old Kaiju comic, I found this little bit on Ain't-It-Cool-News, via Monster Zero.

"For M. Night’s grasp of the WHAT IF, I can’t help but reflect upon a screening of DESTROY ALL MONSTERS at a Quentin Tarantino Film Festival, where he went into an amazing introduction in regards to the TOHO Universe, where he wished he could make a GODZILLA film that wasn’t about the military trying to get Godzilla out of the town, but rather a Woody Allen type of movie set in the Toho Universe Tokyo where… from time to time 300 Ft Tall Monsters could come and destroy everything you know and care about. How these creatures would come to have quasi-religious cults that would worship them, that you would have basic drills just like EARTHQUAKE scares and TORNADO warnings… The Giant Monster Updates on TV and Radio. How the whole of society would be conditioned to deal with the horror in the most normal and accepting manner there could be. Much like the people in George Pal’s TIME MACHINE did in regards to Nuclear War… Where it was simply a way of life that was adapted to."

If all that doesn't get me into the Geek Hall of Fame, I don't know what will.








posted by Steven at 6:18 PM